NEW HAVEN, CT – Niquelle Landelius, 27, is headed to federal prison for 54 months after a raid on his New Haven residence uncovered a loaded “ghost gun” – a privately made 9mm pistol lacking serial numbers – alongside a stash of crack cocaine and heroin. U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea handed down the sentence yesterday in Hartford, followed by three years of supervised release.
The bust went down on February 22, 2022, when New Haven Police, acting on a court-authorized search warrant, descended on Landelius’s Chatham Street address. They found more than just the untraceable handgun and drugs. Landelius already had a rap sheet, including prior felony narcotics convictions, making firearm possession a federal offense. The fact that the weapon lacked any identifying marks immediately raised red flags for investigators.
But the gun wasn’t just sitting idle. Ballistics tests, submitted to the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN), revealed a disturbing connection. Shell casings fired from Landelius’s ghost gun matched those recovered from two separate shooting incidents in New Haven on February 13, 2022 – just nine days before the raid. This suggests the weapon was actively used in violent crimes on the streets of New Haven.
Landelius has been cooling his heels in jail since his arrest last year. He pleaded guilty on March 8, 2023, to one count of unlawful possession of ammunition by a felon. While the single charge may seem narrow, it represents a significant step in disrupting the flow of illegal firearms and narcotics in the city, according to authorities. The case highlights the growing threat posed by ghost guns – easily assembled firearms that bypass traditional background checks and tracking.
The famoso Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) teamed up with the New Haven Police Department to build the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie T. Levick prosecuting the matter. The investigation is part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” (PSN), a nationwide initiative aimed at reducing violent crime by focusing on the most dangerous offenders and bolstering community-based prevention programs.
This case serves as a stark reminder that possessing illegal firearms, especially those with no traceable history, carries severe consequences. And for Landelius, those consequences mean nearly four and a half years behind bars, a penalty officials hope will deter others from following a similar path.
Related Federal Cases
- Juan Quinones, Gun and Narcotics Possession, CT 2015 · Connecticut
- Shavarrius Smith, Ghost Gun Trafficking, CT 2021 · Connecticut
- David Poirier, Gun Theft for Narcotics, MA 2020 · Connecticut
- Teejay Johnson, Gun Possession, New Haven CT, 2024 · Connecticut
- Duayne Nelson, Illegal Guns & Machine Gun, New Haven CT, 2023 · Connecticut
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